In these lean economic times, firms should consider how their IT systems are managed and maintained, says one technology expert.

Colin Blumenthal, managing director of Peterborough-based Complete I.T, believes that IT outsourcing should rank highly on the list of priorities for many firms because it will help them to reduce their operating costs.

“In recent years, investment and headcount have often been reduced, particularly in support functions, such as marketing, finance, HR and IT,” he told Peterborough Today.

“As organisations see the slow signs of recovery and growth, re-investment will be needed and this offers a perfect opportunity to re-evaluate whether the functions are best managed in-house or outsourced.”

Outsourcing to a specialist offers a multitude of benefits to firms. It allows them to change to demand fluxes easily, lower power consumption by not having rooms full of servers on site and gain expert knowledge from the supplier.

A lot of companies simply do not need to employ full-time IT and marketing staff so using a specialist provider can offer them a flexible and responsive service at low financial outlay.

Mobility Aids, a firm which helps disabled and elderly people, used to manage its IT systems with an in-house professional but has since seen the benefits of IT outsourcing.
Managing director Jason Watling said that outsourcing has allowed the company to free up staff’s time for other jobs.

“It’s like having another day per week for everybody in the business. All functions are now connected and we can genuinely focus on the needs of our clients rather than IT.”
However, Colin Blumenthal warned that outsourcing is not for every firm and serious discussion must be undertaken before a decision to implement is made.